Tag Archives: growth hormone

Growth hormone, growth hormone receptor and insulin-like growth factor serum levels in patients with obesity and food addiction

O. Avsar1*, S. Sancak2, I. Koroglu3, E. Avci4

1Hitit University, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Corum, Turkey;
2Fatih Sultan Mehmet Education and Research Hospital, Department of Endocrinology, Istanbul, Turkey;
3Arapgir Ali Özge State Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Malatya, Turkey;
4Health Sciences University, Department of Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey;
*e-mail: orcunavsar@hitit.edu.tr

Received: 27 May 2021; Accepted: 12 November 2021

Obesity is a public health problem that increasingly becomes widespread and causes various complications. Food addiction is a hedonic eating behavior characterized by overconsumption of palatable foods (i.e., foods involve a high amount of salt, sugar and fat). Disturbances in the growth hormone signaling pathway were shown to be associated with increased food intake and adiposity. The study aimed to determine the growth hormone (GH), growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) serum levels in individuals with obesity and food addiction. The present study involved 30 adults with obesity (23 females and 7 males) and 10 healthy adults (5 females and 5 males). 18 obese adults were diagnosed with food addiction, whereas only 2 individuals with food addiction were in the control group. GH, GHR, IGF-1 and insulin values were analyzed with ELISA kits. It was revealed that the obese subjects had significantly lower serum IGF-1 levels compared to healthy individuals (144.55±22.69 ng/ml vs 338.70±61.90 ng/ml, P < 0.001)). No significant differences in the GH, GHR and insulin levels between obese and control groups were detected (P > 0.05). No significant differences between the group with food addiction and the group without food addiction in terms of gender, age, weight, BMI, GH, GHR, insulin and IGF-1 levels were observed. Our study demonstrates that normal IGF-1 levels may be protective for the development of obesity. The serum levels of GH, GHR, insulin, IGF-1 are not associated with food addiction and, therefore, can not be used as novel markers of food addiction.